One of the chief differences between an adult and a juvenile is that the adult knows when he is an ass while the juvenile never does.

Rudeness is the weak man's limitation of strength.

There is nothing more explosive than a skilled population condemned to inaction. Such a population is likely to become a hotbed of extremism and intolerance, and be receptive to any proselytizing ideology, however absurd and vicious, which promises vast action.

Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience.

...That genius is a rare exception (:) It's not true. Talent and genius have been wasted on enormous scale throughout our history; this is all I know for sure.

One might equate growing up with a mistrust of words. A mature person trusts his eyes more than his ears. Irrationality often manifests itself in upholding the word against the evidence of the eyes. Children, savages and true believers remember far less what they have seen than what they have heard.

Social improvement is attained more readily by a concern with the quality of results than with the purity of motives.